To tell you that a newly qualified doctor only earns £29k?

[Drstrike]

Doctors now leave medical school after 5/6 gruelling years of study - with £85k of student debt.

First year post-qualification is £29k, rising to £33k the following year. Then things stagnate around £40k whilst in specialty training.

The first year post-qualification is more supervised. But you are still the first doctor to be bleeped if one of your ward patients starts bleeding post-op, falls and hits their head, has chest pain etc. and you are the one to initiate management then contact your consultant to let them know. You are still covering wards overnight with seniors at a distance. You are still prescribing medications, ordering scans involving radiation, explaining plans to patients and families. You are still a fully qualified doctor - just not with full registration.

This salary is based on a 40-48 hour full time week depending on rota. That means you can be "part time" working 40hrs a week in a job like surgery.

It takes 5/6 years of medical school, 2 years of foundation training, 3 years of core training and 3 years of higher specialty training to become a consultant. That's a commitment of 13 years, generally from the age of 18.

During this time doctors have to pay for their own progression exams (£500-£1000 each).

There are out of hours premia for nights/weekends on top, but in specialties like psychiatry and GP only basic is earnt.

Does this shock you?

£29 k sounds like a decent starting salary to me.

Winning hearts and minds all the way...!

This thread was started because someone did think the public's opinion was important. I come from a huge family of medics. Just have a very different opinion to you.

But I do have to say you must win mn for the must obnoxious post of the day so well done for that. I can fully imagine a god like consultant with a bowtie and assorted minions typing out your posts for you.

It does to me as well.

Thanks babes ❤️

I do think it's too low.

I used to work in the NHS as a pharmacist where I could expect to stagnate around band 7.

I now work in the private regulatory industry where I earn a lot more than that for my 9-5 and also do consultancy on the side where I charge around £600 for a mornings work. I'm early 30s. If I stayed in the NHS I'd be earning piss all in comparison. Fuck that.

It's a great starting salary with solid potential and almost zero risk of redundancy.

As someone who also has good friends working at all levels of the NHS, the biggest issue isn't pay but conditions. This to me is the crux. Management are rubbish, efficiency isn't great (similar issues across the public sector) and the union doesn't sound great either.

But the potential to earn up to, and above six figures is great. The OP is BU in this respect.

Reading this I imagine Australia and New Zealand are going to be fully staffed v soon. £29,000 equates to £14 an hour - you think that's a good starting wage after 5/6 years of Uni ? These £100,000 salaries are after 5 years as a consultant, so after 15+ years of work, exams and saving people's lives on a daily basis.
How many people don't get a say where they live to do their job ? Doctors don't.

Lots of graduate salaries are similar to £29k. Architects, engineers and many other industries with mega hard degrees have graduate salaries starting at around £29k or less, but without the pension etc.

We're talking public sector so the wages will always be below other countries where they're funded differently.

Talk about god complex.

And that's if you don't have a baby or get stuck in a training bottle neck. Some will never get there. The doctor doing your operation will v often be one of those 'junior' doctors. As will be the person intubating your baby or resuscitating your child at 3am.
Pay less, less doctors, more stress, more leave, more stress, more leave .....
Pay a decent wage, more stay, less stress, more stay.

Especially as that is based on 40hours a week. If you work more than that on average, you get more. Plus that is only if you work no weekends and let’s face it, what junior doctor works no weekends?

@SamanthaCaine yes, for a contracted 35 hour week. Doctors are contracted for a 48 hour week. So hourly rate is much less.
And most work 72 hours on a regular basis. You don't just leave after a 12 hour shift if paperwork to be done and no one pays the overtime

I’d advise junior doctors to emulate other professionals, like lawyers and bankers - I can’t imagine any of them sitting in their million pound mansions fretting about what Mavis from Hull thinks of them.

Stop caring what the public think, put yourselves first. You don’t owe anyone anything. Channel your inner white male slightly psychopathic surgeon.

@Cyantist it's based on a 48 hour week.

Tax is also taken from that very same society. Including those in the virtuous list that you’ve mentioned.

@WeAreBorg 😂 I think that's a v good idea. They don't have to treat Mavis from Hull though. Hard to not take it personally at 3am when being shouted at by Mavis about her long wait in A&E. Because there are no staff.

So they don't get paid extra for working 72 hours if contracted for 48?

What makes you think that noone else works long hours outside of the NHS?

But I'll go back to what I said earlier. Management are shit and it doesn't seem like the unions are much better. Long hours have been an issue as long as I can remember. Yet no-one has ever done anything about it, despite having more students than places.

@SamanthaCaine nope. No extra pay for staying late and making sure people stay alive. Not sure lawyers or consultants leaving work has quite that same side effect.

And where did I say that others don't work long hours ? Weird comment. We are talking about Doctors pay, which equates to £14 an hour for the person holding the hospital bleep at 3am. First person at a crash call ? Of making a coffee ? For the same pay.

This thread is a real wake up call. My DS has recently received several offers to study medicine this coming year.I hate the idea of him signing up for this total shit storm when he could do many other things. It's his choice ultimately and he has wanted to be a doctor for years but I want him to think about all the options even if it means a gap year. He will most likely have four A stars at A level (Maths, Further Maths, Chem, Biology) and A star EPQ. Can I please ask the doctors on here if you have any suggestions of alternative careers they wish they had followed instead. Money isn't the main motivator but I would like him to have a financially secure future and a life.

Really? No overtime for working 72 hours in a week? I find that hard to believe.

Again, give over with the god complex. Saving lives is their job (part of it lets not forget). Same as many people. That's like pointing out that a barista should get brownie points for making coffee.

You were the one raising the 72 hour working week.

Err… yes really no overtime! See also nurses, the NHS really does run on goodwill. Time to withdraw the goodwill.

@SamanthaCaine and you are a reason that the NHS is a shit show. If you don't want a doctor to earn a salary that reflects their worth then they will leave. Don't you want a health service ? Medical students helped out over Xmas in some hospitals for no pay. The health service runs on goodwill but that is fast running out.

@MissyB1 people don't want to believe how bad it is. Unfortunately they are going to find out next time they need help.